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To reduce by destroying or consuming the vital powers of; to exhaust, as a country of its strength or resources, a treasury of money, etc. Saturday Review.

epraved or degenerated; degeneracy; depravity. The depravation of his moral character destroyed his judgment. Sir G. C. Lewis.

To take away; to put an end; to destroy. [Obs.] 'Tis honor to deprive dishonored life. Shak.

ak. Would Charles X. derogate from his ancestors Would he be the degenerate scion of that royal line Hazlitt.

Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars.

To destroy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

To destroy. [Obs.] Mede.

Liable to destruction; capable of being destroyed.

The act of destroying; a tearing down; a bringing to naught; subversion; demolition; ruin; slaying; devastation. The Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction. Esth. ix. 5. 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. Shak. Destruction…

One who delights in destroying that which is valuable; one whose principles and influence tend to destroy existing institutions; a destructive.

One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.

The quality of destroying or ruining. Prynne.

A destroyer. [R.] Fire, the destructive and the artificial death of things. Boyle.

To destroy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

ten, a scheme to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice. His device in against Babylon, to destroy it. Jer. li. 11. Their recent device of demanding benevolences. Hallam. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. Job v. 12.

To seize upon and destroy or appropriate greedily, selfishly, or wantonly; to consume; to swallow up; to use up; to waste; to annihilate. Famine and pestilence shall devour him. Ezek. vii. 15. I waste my life and do my days devour. Spenser.

Originally, an ornamental head band or fillet, worn by Eastern monarchs as a badge of royalty; hence (later), also, a crown, in general. "The regal diadem." Milton.

To bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin, by misuse or through neglect; to destroy the fairness and good condition of; -- said of a building. If the bishop, parson, or vicar, etc., dilapidates the buildings, or cuts down the timber of the patrimony. Blackstone.

To render unable or incapable; to destroy the force, vigor, or power of action of; to deprive of competent physical or intellectual power; to incapacitate; to disqualify; to make incompetent or unfit for service; to impair. A Christian's life is a perpetual exercise, a wrestling and warfare, for which sensual pleasure…

To destroy the force of habit in; to wean from a custom. Johnson.